Normally, electrical connections are formed using electrical connectors by joining a male type and a female type connector. However, when joining connectors in a narrow space, for example, within the body of a personal computer or imaging equipment, there are cases where sufficient workspace cannot be secured, thereby making connecting difficult. The cause for this is that when inserting or unplugging a connector, the male and female connectors must be accurately positioned, and they must be moved in a direction parallel to the inserting and removing direction, but in the case of narrow spaces as described above, accurate positioning and parallel movement can be difficult.
Normally, in such cases, a movable portion is provided on a connector in order to make positioning of the connector easy.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional connector 1 has a protruding portion 2 and a fixing portion 3 for fixing to a board, and this protruding portion 2 becomes a movable portion, making the above-mentioned positioning and the like easier.
However, in this case, a member for restricting the movement of said protruding portion is needed in order to stabilize the protruding portion 2 during insertion and removal of the connector. Therefore, concerning the production of connectors, there were problems, such as the product lifetime being affected, and production costs increasing because of the increase in the number of parts.
In consideration of the above problems, the present invention provides a connector with a stopper provided as a restricting member on a protruding portion of the housing, and specifically, by providing a connector characterized by being a connector whereof a portion of the housing protrudes, and wherefor an electrical connection and mechanical fixation is achieved by said protruding portion being housed within a recessed portion of an opposing connector, the housing having a fixing portion fixed to a board, and a movable said protruding portion, said protruding portion being supported by the fixing portion of the housing via a contact portion, and said protruding portion having a stopper that comes into contact with the contact portion thereby stopping said protruding portion when the connector is inserted, the movement of said protruding portion can be stopped and joining can be ensured when the connector is inserted.
Additionally, a connector is provided that is characterized in similarly being a connector whereof a portion of the housing protrudes, and wherefor an electrical connection and mechanical fixation is achieved by said protruding portion being housed within a recessed portion of an opposing connector, the housing having a fixing portion fixed to a board and a movable said protruding portion, said protruding portion being supported by the fixing portion of the housing via the contact portion, said contact portion having a stopper that comes into contact with the housing thereby stopping said protruding portion when the connector is removed. Whereby, the operation of the protruding portion (20) or the connector can be made smooth when the connector is removed.
Further, a connector is provided characterized in that, in these connectors having a stopper, the contact portions are exposed on one surface or both surfaces of the protruding portion, and have touching portions that electrically connect to an opposing connector.
Regarding the positions of the contacts, by providing a connector characterized in that the contact portions are aligned in a zigzag form, a movable connector can be provided that has more contacts.
The present invention further provides a connector characterized in that both stoppers described above are formed in the same housing, restricting the movement of the protruding portion in both the insertion and removal directions of the connector. Whereby, a movable connector effective for both the insertion and removal directions can be provided.